Šefčovič: Each EU state to prepare national integrated energy plan

Each EU-member state will prepare a national integrated energy plan heading towards the joint European energy policy, European Commission Vice-president for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič said during the SET Plan-Central European Energy Conference (CEEC) held in Bratislava on December 1 when presenting the principles of the so-called winter energy package, which were okayed by the European Commission on November 30.

“We expect the proposed measures to mobilise €177 billion worth of investments annually, to create 900,000 new jobs, chiefly in the energy efficiency sector, and to allow for annual GDP growth of as much as 1 percent,” said Šefčovič as cited by the TASR newswire.

Šefčovič said that through these proposals the EC is implementing strategic goals in the field of energy and climate change agreed on by EU leaders in 2014, as well as commitments stemming from the Paris Agreement.

The commissioner specified that the EC’s proposals should reform the current model of electricity production and consumption, impose measures to reduce energy consumption and better integrate energy generated from renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind energy. The proposals also include gradually removing subsidies for fossil fuels.

Šefčovič emphasised that the energy package also includes a new eco-design draft, a legislative framework for the security of electricity supplies, a strategy on connected and automated mobility, as well as activities aimed at speeding up innovations in the field of clean energy and renovating buildings in Europe.

More than 75 percent of old buildings in Europe are energy-inefficient, with 40 percent of energy used on heating and cooling, said Šefčovič. If a 30-percent limit for energy efficiency were achieved by 2030, there would be a great opportunity for local construction developers, mostly small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, to get involved in reconstruction work.

“We set a goal for the entire EU to achieve at least 27 percent of energy generated from renewable energy resources by 2030,” said Šefčovič. “At the moment I must say that Slovakia with its 10 percent in 2013 is on a good path towards contributing towards this commitment.”